Newborn found covered in ants at a Houston-area apartment complex. (KPRC)

HOUSTON (AP/KXAN) — A newborn girl has been saved after a passer-by found her abandoned, crying and covered in ants and other debris in a flower bed at a suburban Houston apartment complex.

Harris County Sheriff’s Deputy Thomas Gilliland says only the alertness of the complex resident who found the baby before dawn Thursday saved the child from dying. Investigators say the girl was less than an hour old and her umbilical cord was still attached. They followed a trail of blood to an apartment where a 21-year-old woman admitted being the mother.

“I’m in shock,” said Roger Coreas, the resident who found the baby. “There’s a hospital, not even a block down the road and if the mother was so worried about the infant’s safety she could’ve easily gone to drop off the baby.”

The woman has been detained for psychological and medical evaluation, but no charges have been filed.